Mutants in the Haunted Hotel
Part 3
A/N: Speedy updates for a while…be happy! . And italics indicate thoughts.
Warning: Extremely fluffy chapter!
Disclaimer: We own it all. Bwa ha ha ha!
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As it turned out, Kitty needn't have worried about her attire. The large armoire against the wall was filled with traditional Victorian dresses which they assumed they were meant to wear.
"For the atmosphere," Des Carlson told them as the girls entered the dining room, "Only for the first meal generally, you can wear them other times, but you don't have to."
"This place is so huge!" They turned to see Kurt and Remy walking through the decorative doors. Both were wearing stylish suits that had obviously been provided, since neither of them would own anything of the sort. Kurt was staring around, thoroughly excited. His gaze ended on Kitty and Rogue and his eyes opened much wider.
"What?" Kitty asked worriedly, looking down at her gentle pink dress, "Do I look, like, majorly stupid or something?"
"No," he managed to squeak, still gawking, "Not stupid." Kitty beamed and spread her skirts, doing a little twirl.
"Oui," Remy breathed, staring at Rouge's dark purple dress. "Madmoiselle Chaton is looking lovely. But Mademoiselle Rogue…a vision," he bowed slightly and raised her gloved hand to his lips.
"Cut that out!" Rogue pulled her hand away looking flustered, "Keep your filthy lips away from my hands." Kitty giggled behind her hand but stopped immediately when Rogue shot her a look.
"Dinner, then?" Des asked, fiddling with the buttons on his suit. Murmurs of assent, and everyone filed into the dining room.
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Back at the Institute, Scott sat on the couch, immersed in his book. He didn't hear her come up behind him, so he was surprised when Jean put her arms around him.
"Sure is quiet tonight…" she said softly, letting her chin rest on his shoulder.
"Well, with the two loudest students and one of the sources of most noise gone," He turned and kissed her cheek, "It would have to be." Jean smiled.
"Well," she fiddled with her necklace. "Maybe we'll have to take advantage of it." Scott's eyebrow's rose, but he didn't say anything. Jean's smile grew even larger, and she removed herself from Scott. "I'll be right back," she said and dashed away. Scott stayed on the couch, wondering what Jean was up to. Suddenly a slow, jazzy tune came drifting through the doorway, and Scott recognized it as his favorite Bossa Nova song, 'The Girl from Ipanema'. Jean swaggered into the room a moment later. Slowly Scott rose from his position on the couch.
"May I have this dance?" He asked with a bow.
"Of course," Jean giggled, curtsying. Scott placed his hands on Jean's waist, as she wrapped her arms around his neck. The couple slowly swayed in time to the romantic song. As the song came to an end Scott leaned in and gave Jean long kiss.
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"Would 'monsieur' care to escort me to my room?" Kitty giggled again, offering Kurt her hand. He took it with a grin. Apparently a bit of his own roommate had rubbed off on her during dinner. Of course, French was widely considered 'the language of love'. So he didn't really have a problem with it.
"I'd be honored," he replied and they began a stately march out of the room into the corridor that led to the girls' room, "Did my lady enjoy her dinner?"
"Oh, it was simply divine," she pretended to be swept away in remembrance of the actually uneventful meal, "I thought I might die from the deliciousness. I adored the dessert."
"Well," Kurt toyed with the idea for a moment and then decided to take the plunge, "I adored sitting next to a thoroughly enchanting and beautiful young woman. I was wondering how I had been lucky enough to be seated next to her, and barely noticed the food."
"That is so sweet!" Kitty grinned widely as they reached her door then regained her 'lady' composure, "I mean to say…I'm sure that young woman was equally enthralled with the clever and charming young man she was with."
"Perhaps," Kurt hesitated again but shook it off. You only got a chance like this once, "The young man is wondering when he might see the fair lady again?"
"Well, you may tell him that in all likelihood she will be unable to sleep and taking a walk in the gardens around, say, ten?"
"I shall inform him," Kurt said, feeling his cheeks growing warmer. Kitty giggled one more time before disappearing behind her door. Kurt was left standing in the hallway, starting to blush considerably. Was what just happened what he thought had just happened?
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Remy and Rogue stood and watched as Kitty and Kurt exited together. He turned to her, eyebrows slightly raised.
"Does mademoiselle require Remy to escort her to the room?"
"I think not," Rogue replied, looking disgusted at the very idea. However, she did not move to leave the dining room.
"Then why does she not exit?" Remy asked politely. Rogue's cheeks colored slightly.
"Well, I…I don't want to interrupt Kitty and Kurt. They were looking pretty cozy."
"Ahh, oui, Chaton and Bleu are getting on quite well…however, there is no coziness for Remy," he sighed dramatically, "Poor Remy."
"If you're trying to get me to feel sorry for you I most certainly don't," Rogue crossed her arms and glared at him.
"Remy does not need your pity," he waved his hand dismissively but still stared hopefully at her. Rogue tried to ignore him for a few more minutes before surrendering.
"Fine. You can walk me to my room. But only because I know you won't leave me alone if I don't let you." Remy grinned broadly and held out his hand. She took it with a frown and allowed him to lead her out the door.
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"You look happy," Kurt said, looking up to see Remy entering the room.
"Remy could say the same about you mon ami," Remy said, matching his grin. Kurt went back to rummaging through his drawers.
"I've got a kind-of, sort-of, maybe date."
"And what kind of date might that be?"
"Kitty told me to meet her in the garden later," he pulled a gray T-shirt out and held it up against his chest in the mirror, "Remy, help me. I need to look like I just threw something on without thinking about it."
"It's a nice shirt," Remy reassured him, "But what will Remy do while you are gone?"
"I dunno," Kurt shrugged and unearthed a green shirt and compared the two, "I heard Des say something about a library. You could hang out there," he suddenly grinned slyly, "Maybe Rogue will show up." Remy smiled back and pointed to the gray shirt.
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"I still don't know why you want to go out in the middle of the night," Rogue complained from her bed while Kitty threw clothing out of the dresser madly.
"It's moonlit. It's romantic. I have nothing cute to wear!" She wailed finally, with all her clothes scattered around the room. Rogue rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically before rising. She surveyed the mess and pointed to two items of clothing: a powder blue top with tied sleeves and a khaki miniskirt.
"That and that. With the butterfly necklace."
"Oh thanks Rogue, what would I ever do without you?" Kitty gushed, snatching up the clothes and starting to change.
"Show up naked?" Rogue offered with a dry smile.
"You're horrible," Kitty said off-handedly, modeling, "How do I look?"
"Terrific. And what am I supposed to do all by myself?"
"Why don't you check out the library?" Kitty reapplied her lip gloss and winked at Rogue's reflection, "You might meet Remy there." Rogue threw a pillow at her. "Watch the hair!"
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She's not coming. Kurt wrung his hands, looking around the twilit garden. He had been sitting on a bench, waiting for, he didn't know how long. He hadn't put on his normal watch. The inducer was off…he kept wanting to ask the Professor to fix it, but he always forgot. She was just joking around. She didn't mean anything by it. And after all that time he took to look nonchalant! She doesn't like me.
"Why the glum face?" He turned around quickly to see Kitty staring at him quizzically.
"Kitty," He jumped to his feet, "I was waiting for you."
"Yeah, sorry I'm late. I was talking to Rogue and we totally lost track of time."
"That's fine. I wasn't worried." Kitty laughed and he blushed. She looked up at the sky, then around at the garden.
"This place is really lovely, isn't it?" She sighed happily. Kurt made sure she was still admiring the garden then turned around and quickly snapped a blue tulip off a nearby stalk. He cleared his throat and when she turned around he offered it to her.
"Oh that's so sweet," she cooed, happily taking the flower, "And it matches my shirt!"
"You…you look great, by the way," Kurt stammered, blushing from her pleasure at the flower.
"Thanks." Kitty blushed. "I..um..you look good too." Come on Kitty, that was totally lame! Kurt smiled happily. Kitty wriggled nervously on the edge of the bench. She tried to find a comfortable position, crossing and recrossing her legs, slightly off balance. Kurt stared at his knees. This is the perfect time to tell her. I should tell her that I really like her. But what if she gets creeped out and hates me? Come on, just tell her. Kurt took a deep breath, then turned sharply
"Kitty, I-" he began but Kitty, startled by his shift and already wobbling dangerously, fell off the bench with a squeak. Both their eyes widened and they stared at each other for a few seconds, Kurt down and Kitty up…before they simultaneously broke into hysterical laughter.
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Remy sat at a long antique table, poring over a large glossy volume filled with photos of other Victorian mansions. The library had been greatly updated from whatever it had been in the Victorian days. There were now many interesting books filling the shelves. It was a pleasant retreat. He heard the door swing open and looked up. His strange red-black eyes met with shocked emerald ones.
"What are you doing here?" Rogue asked.
"Reading. Remy does know how," he informed her with a small smile. Rogue scowled and turned to leave, "Don't go, cheri. Don't let Remy chase you away. Come. Enjoy the books."
Rogue stood in the doorway, hand on the door, indecisive. She could go back to the room and be bored out of her skull until Kitty decided to come back from her romantic rendezvous. Or she could stay in the library and be entertained…but have to suffer the company of one her least favorite mutants. After some furious silent debate, entertainment proved worth the unpleasant company. She let the door close and started to browse one of the shelves, studiously ignoring Remy. He smiled at her back and looked back at his book, still grinning.
Rogue ventured a glance back over her shoulder and was instantly annoyed by his pleased expression. Why is he always smiling like that? Like he knows some great joke that no one else hears.
"What are you so happy about?" She asked bluntly. Remy looked up slowly.
"Remy was just thinking."
"About what?" Rogue pressed on.
"About how lovely Mademoiselle Rogue is." Rogue turned quickly back to the shelves so he wouldn't see her blush. What is he talking about? Rouge's eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"What are you playing at Swamp Rat?" Rogue growled turning back to face Remy. Maybe he's drunk. The dreamy look on his face startled her.
"Playing at? But Remy isn't playing mon cheri." Remy replied acting puzzled. "For you Madmoiselle Rogue are a rare in a garden of weeds." Rogue snapped her head back to the shelves, blushing furiously. That settles it. He's drunk.
A sudden rumbling shook the Victorian hotel. Books flew off the shelves, as paintings and vases crashed to the floor. Remy stood up, just in time to see a huge crystal chandelier break loose from it's chain. He grabbed Rogue's arm and spun her back just as it shattered on the ground. Breathing hard they stared at each other. Then Rogue realized she had pretty much completely lost her personal space and was in danger of skin contact.
"Erm…thanks," she said, ducking her head and pulling back. He nodded once and continued to stare around. The crashing had stopped, but the hotel seemed to be vibrating somehow, and it was almost eerily quiet. But it wasn't totally quiet…there was something. Very quiet…whispering, maybe?
"Do you hear that?" he muttered, not moving, his eyes still flicking madly around the room. Rogue nodded almost imperceptibly, doing the same. Then the whispering started to get louder, slowly but steadily. Then they both saw it. Standing, just in front of one of the shelves was a man. He had a greenish glow about him and wore crumpled slacks and a lab coat. His eyes were large and blue, and he had a shock of fairly long white hair, that looked out of place on a prematurely aged face. He stared at them, eyes almost bugging out. Probably the same kind of stare they were giving him.
"H-" his cracked lips opened and he coughed. He seemed to be struggling to speak, "He-" He paused to wheeze into his hand. Rogue stepped forward cautiously.
"What is it?" she asked quietly, "What do you need?" He looked back up at her and his blue eyes were filled with longing.
"Help…m-me…" he murmured before he gave final shuddering gasp and disappeared. It all stopped. The whispering. The vibrating. Everything was still.
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OOOH…the ghosty appears at last!!! Boo. R/r
Sorry it took so long to update! We'll try to be quicker!